14 



take large numbers of the buffalo, during the spawning season, 

 as before stated, one haul of over two hundred thousand pounds 

 being on record as having been made on the Illinois river, and 

 the traffic in this i)articular fish was a very large one. Each year, 

 for the last ten, has shown a marked decrease in the supply, until 

 this season the catch was almost an entire , failure. Some years 

 ago, carp were placed in every stream in the State, and each suc- 

 ceeding year has shown an increase in the number caught. At first, 

 when they were taken occasionally among the catch of the fisher- 

 men, they were not considered at all valuable as a market fish, 

 so, fortunately, were not sought. Thus they were permitted to 

 grow and increase in numbers until now they are as much a part 

 of our fish supply as any fish indigenous to the waters of the 

 State, and every inland pond and lake, as well as the rivers, 

 furnishes a supply of carp as a part of its product. The result of 

 the introduction of carp has been that to-day more of this species 

 of fish are taken and handled by the fishermen than all the other 

 varieties combined, and all are sold at a price nearly double that 

 usually obtained for buffalo. From one point on the Illinois 

 river, last season, 250,000 pounds of carp found its way to Chicago 

 and New York markets, and at about one-half greater price than 

 could be realized for buffalo. Carp are, undoubtedly, the fish for 

 the great mass of fish-eating people, those who eat fish as food,, 

 not as a luxury. 



The work of the various fish commissions should be directed to 

 such methods as will produce the largest quantity of food at the 

 lowest possible cost. It is the man who must get the most possi- 

 ble for his money, in order that he may live, that the work of 

 such interests should be made to benefit, chiefly, and this can 

 only be done by the introduction of some such fish. Black bass, 

 trout, and game fish generally, will never be plentiful enough to 

 be considered market fish, only the few can afford to use them as 

 food. Under the most advantageous circumstances, the waters 

 would not produce these fish in quantities sufficiently large to 

 bring their price within reach of the average working man. Carp 

 can be- raised in such quantities, and at the same time in no way 

 interfere with other fish. Carp have not been a failure, but, on 

 the contrary, have given to the people of our State a greater sup- 

 ply of food from the waters than could have been produced in 

 any other way, from the same area. 



FISHWAYS. 



The law relating to fish ways has been generally observed, but 

 few of the d-uus being unprovided and those that have been put 

 in are kept in repair for the most part. There are still some 

 dams unprovided, but all have been notified, and we hope to induce 

 owners to pat in the fishways without recourse to legal measures. 



The nect^ssity for a fishway over each dam must be apparent to 

 any one who has any knowledge of the habit* of fish, and the 

 people generally who live in the vicinity of a dam that is unpro- 



